


Peter Parker is Spiderman

by manymessyfandoms



Series: Exposed [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Identity Reveal, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Tony Stark Has A Heart, flash thompson is redeemed y'all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-22
Updated: 2018-05-22
Packaged: 2019-05-10 00:39:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14726681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/manymessyfandoms/pseuds/manymessyfandoms
Summary: Peter accidentally reveals his identity while at school.





	Peter Parker is Spiderman

**Author's Note:**

> Like the majority of my other fics, this was a couple prompt requests from tumblr. (if the three of you that I mixed into this are seeing this, I love you all) 
> 
> Anyways, you can catch me @ manymessyfandoms on tumblr! (I'm far too lazy to remember two separate names)

Something wasn’t right with Peter.

He could feel it, bone deep. He was tired, and he wasn’t eating. Every time he closed his eyes, he was underneath that building again, gasping for breath as he clutched onto life. It made his senses feel like they were dialed to an eleven, and it made rest impossible.

Peter didn’t think it was an issue. It sucked, waking up after an hour of sleep with a racing heart and tears in his eyes, but worse things could’ve happened. He just... he just couldn’t shake off the feeling of the weight on his chest. 

“Dude, what’s your problem?” Ned asked one day at school. “You’re so jumpy.”

Peter’s startled jump hadn’t done anything to support his next words. “I’m fine, Ned.”

“No, you’re not,” Michelle said, sitting next to him at lunch. “Something’s wrong.”

Peter groaned. “MJ, I’m totally okay. Nothing’s-” Peter broke off as his Spidey senses went off. “Something’s wrong.”

Ned laughed a little. “That’s what we’re saying.”

Peter’s head whipped around the room, and he ignored whatever else Michelle and Ned were saying as he looked for whatever was making the hair on his arms stand up.

“Peter?” Peter ignored MJ’s look of confusion as his head scanned the room. He discreetly activated his web shooters. 

Peter blamed the fatigue for his next actions. 

He was so wired that he convinced himself there was an immediate danger, when in reality, it was only just a loose light fixture. If Peter had been himself, he could’ve easily pinned down the issue and gotten everyone out of the way, but instead, his sensory overload had him spiraling, still trying to figure out what was going on when a loud crack sounded, and the light was plunging towards a table filled with students. 

“Look out!” Peter barely heard the words yelled from startled kids as he jumped onto the table, holding up the giant light with one hand. Without even thinking, he webbed himself away from his peers, and safely placed the light aside. 

“That was close,” Peter said, not fully comprehending the gaping looks he was getting. “What’s...” He trailed off when he saw Ned’s look of despair. “Oh, shit.”

“You’re... but- but you can’t-” Peter heard students around him mumbling, and he began to tremble. He blew it. Years of keeping his secret gone, just like that.

“ _Peter Parker is Spiderman_ ,” an unrecognizable voice said. 

“No, no, I- I’m not!” Peter stuttered out. “It’s just- it’s not a heavy light! It was easy to- what are you doing?”

Flash stepped forward and tried picking it up. No luck. “It’s too heavy to pick up. Parker, you caught this with one hand, falling from the ceiling.” Flash was looking at him in a way that Peter couldn’t distinguish. 

“I’m not-” Suddenly Peter couldn’t breathe, so he ran out the door. 

He immediately called Tony, a hysterical mess.

“Hey, Pete-”

“Mr. Stark, I- I messed up real bad.”

“Where are you? Are you okay?” he replied back instantly. 

Peter took in a large breath, momentarily soothing his burning lungs. “No, no, it’s just- they know, Tony. I accidentally caught a light, and I used my _webs_ , damn it!” Peter was practically screaming by the end. “What the hell was I thinking?”

He heard shuffling on the other line. “Peter, calm down. It’s alright, I’m on my way to you right now.” Peter didn’t even bother asking how he knew where he was. 

A few minutes later, Tony Stark pulled up to him on the side of the road. He got out and took one look at Peter’s splotchy red face and watery eyes before pulling him into a hug. 

“What am I going to do?” Peter sniffled into his shirt. 

“It’s okay, kiddo. I’m going to help you.”

That’s how he found himself on lockdown in the Stark Tower. 

Three days of hunkering down with Tony and Aunt May was making Peter restless. Tony was always on the phone with someone on the rare occasions he wasn’t out dealing with Peter’s mess. 

“I’m sorry,” he said one day at dinner when May, who insisted she couldn’t take any time off despite Tony offering to pay, was at work. “This is all my fault.”

“No, it’s not, Pete. You were just helping out the other kids. That’s kind of what you do, remember? Look out for the little guy?”

Peter shifted in his seat. “It’s just... I should’ve been able to know that the light was loose before it happened. I just couldn’t discern anything, everything was jumbled. By the time I realized, it was too late.”

There was a pause. “Is something wrong, Peter? You know you can talk to me.” The genuine concern in his voice opened the floodgates.

“I don’t sleep, Mr. Stark. Every time I try, I’m back under the building, and it’s suffocating. I can feel my bones popping, and my lung being crushed. It’s- it’s like I have to relive it every time I’m unconscious, and- what?” Peter cut himself off when he saw Tony’s expression. 

“What building are you talking about, Pete? What happened?” His voice was so quiet it was nearly a whisper. 

“Did I- did I never tell you that story?” Tony shook his head. “It’s stupid, really. It’s just, the night Toomes tried to hijack your plane, I confronted him. He...” Peter swallowed thickly. “He destroyed all the support beams in the building we were in. The whole thing just... collapsed on me.” Tony was quiet, so Peter rambled on. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Stark. I tried to call for help, but I didn’t have my suit or coms on. I really tried. I managed to push the thing off of me, but-”

“Peter, stop,” Tony said in a strained voice, and Peter’s heart sank for a moment. “Don’t apologize, kid. I should be apologizing to you.” He cleared some of the thickness out of his throat. “I took away your suit, your only means of protection, and you nearly died. That’s on me. You can’t sleep. That’s on me. This is all... this is all my fault.”

Peter immediately knew exactly where Tony’s head was going, and he wasn’t having it. “You know what? No. No, I reject that,” he said fiercely and Tony’s eyes snapped to his. “We’re not playing the blame game, Mr. Stark. This is not your fault. You were right when I said I shouldn’t have the suit if I was nothing without it. I needed that, but I should’ve talked to somebody after. Instead I kept it bottled up, and I got reckless. That’s why we’re in this situation.”

Tony shook his head. “Well, I know I’m going to blame myself, and you’re going to blame yourself, so how about we just split it fifty-fifty?”

Peter let out a startled laugh. “Tony, I think we might need to get a therapist for the tower.”

Tony’s face cracked a smile before saying, “I think you’re right, kid.”

There was a comfortable silence for a few moments. “What am I going to do?” he whispered. 

“I’m going to shoot straight with you, Peter. Kids are shit at keeping secrets.” Peter scoffed. “I tried to get ahold of the other students as soon as I could, but word was already out. There... there was even videos.”

Peter closed his eyes and shook his head. “Damn it.”

A hand clasped on his shoulder. “I think the best thing you can do is try to live your life as normal as possible. Of course, you and May will be moving to the Tower, if she’s okay with that. Just a little extra protection as an added precaution. I can hold a press conference and tell the press exactly what they can kiss if they bother you even once. You’re still a kid, Pete. I’m going to try to protect you from this as best I can.”

Peter let out a sigh, grateful for having Tony in his corner. “Thank you, Tony.”

Tony ruffled his hair. “Don’t worry, kiddo. We’ll figure this out.”

Tony held the press conference the next day, confirming what everyone already knew. He also painted a very vivid word picture about what would happen to anyone who went after Peter. It had the press leaving with pale faces and Peter leaving with a grin. 

Going to school the next week was harder. The only people who treated him the same were Michelle and Ned, who both had already known who he was. One of the biggest surprised was Flash Thompson. 

“Hey, Peter. Parker. Peter Parker,” he stuttered a little. “I just- I wanted to say how sorry I am for how I treated you.”

Peter snorted. “No, you’re not. I’m still Penis Parker, remember?”

Flash shook his head. “You... you used to make me so angry, you know? You were so good at everything, and you never acted like you cared. I always thought you were slacking off, and just didn’t even give a thought to anyone else. And it pissed me off. I tried so hard, and I just never...” He trailed off. “But I get it now. It wasn’t that you didn’t care, it was that you did. You saved our asses at Washington, and... you probably don’t even remember this, but my mom stepped out onto the street one day and nearly got run down. You saved her. She still hasn’t stopped talking about ‘that nice little Spiderman’.” Flash laughed. “Spiderman does a lot of good, and _you are_ Spiderman, Peter. So, I’m sorry.”

Peter was slightly shocked. “Yeah, man. It’s- it’s alright.”

Flash nodded and was about to turn around, but paused. “I know you could beat my ass until next Tuesday. Why didn’t you ever stop me?”

“Because Peter Parker couldn’t do that before.”

Flash’s face looked slightly pained. “I’m sorry your secret’s out. I’m sorry for picking on you. I just... yeah. I’m just sorry.” And with that, he turned away. 

"Peter? You ready to go to class?" Ned asked as he nudged his shoulder. 

Peter shook his head out of his thoughts as he thought about how different life was going to be.

Although, Peter thought, maybe different didn't have to be worse.

"Of course I'm ready, Ned. Of course I'm ready."

**Author's Note:**

> OOPS if you read the other one then you'll see the similarities between the endings, but!!! Let's just say I did that for continuity in the series and not because I'm too tired to try to think of something else


End file.
